TEL AVIV. RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems Ltd posted record sales of US$2.7 billion (9.7 billion Shekels) in 2019, which is an increase of 3.9 per cent compared to the corresponding period in the 2018, the company financial results released on March 26 said.

The financial results released amid global Covid-19 crisis said the company’s orders totalled US$2.8 billion (10 billion Shekels) with record high export orders including a backlog order of US$7.2 billion (24.8 billion Shekels), which is equivalent to 2.5 sales years, despite the significant depreciation in the dollar- and euro-to-shekel exchange rates.

Notably, in 2019 the company handed over a dividend of some 500 million Shekels to the Israeli government. In 2019, RAFAEL continued to press ahead with extensive marketing and business activities in Israel and around the world, including the acquisition of UAV manufacturer Aeronautics and other companies, as well as numerous other activities.

Speaking on the occasion, RAFAEL President and CEO Maj Gen (Retd) Yoav Har-Even said: “As RAFAEL concludes the 2019 fiscal year, in addition to its significant contribution to developing and providing defense technologies, it is also engaged in the effort to find solutions for the COVID-19 and against its spread.

We are certain that the company’s financial robustness will ensure its ability to face the coming uncertainties and challenges. These days, thanks to adequate preparation, we are able to carry out our work, while adhering to the Ministry of Health’s directives, and to maintain our commitments, with the relentless hard work of our outstanding men and women who consider this effort their mission.”

The reason behind the strong financials is that in the past year, RAFAEL made a number of other significant achievements including the sale of two Iron Dome batteries to the US Army, and an on-time delivery of the US Army’s first TROPHY Active Protection Systems. In addition to that RAFAEL received an urgent order from India for the supply of SPIKE missile systems and a major order for SPIKE from Germany while expanding its SPIKE user-base to 34 nations in 2019.

The company signed a number of important JVs, and posted an increase in the number of users of its Litening Pod. Domestically, RAFAEL won a strategic contract for a multi-domain project with the Israeli MOD, and was also awarded the Israel Defense Prize for its SPICE 1000 air-to-surface system.

RAFAEL’s investment in its manpower continued in 2019 recruiting over 800 new employees primarily in technological fields with nine per cent of its sales channelled to R&D of defence and civilian technologies, which also entailed vast cooperation with academic bodies in Israel and around the world.

Dr Uzi Landau, Chairman of RAFAEL said, “Our human resource is the engine that propels us to achieve our mission and our vision to find new solutions and breakthroughs and to fulfill our goals, all while dealing with the newly-imposed reality. The dedication of our men and women, those at home and those who are still attending work, and the commitment that we as management have towards them, are the secret behind our force and our ability to cope with the impact of COVID-19.”

Financial results breakdown: